


Kill the Night

by rosatremaine



Category: Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 20:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14577150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosatremaine/pseuds/rosatremaine
Summary: Post-Ragnarok, Infinity War AU fix-it. SPOILERS FOR IW.Asgard is no more - but its people remain strong, travelling through the universe in a battered ship. When disaster strikes and danger is all around yet again, the only option left is to call for help from Earth's mightiest heroes ... well, some of them, anyway.





	Kill the Night

Drifting through space in a glorified tin can was not how Loki had seen his future as advisor to the Asgardian Throne panning out - but he had to admit, it was at least marginally better than the alternative. Crumbling, burning ruins never did suit him well, and however rag-tag the crew and passengers of the vessel might be, Loki was still partially in charge of them. There were some moments when it really was almost like Asgard, if you ignored the creaking of the hull and the general lack of room. Who would have thought that one day the shining city, the glorious floating Realm Eternal, would end up crammed into an emergency relief vessel more or less hitchhiking its way across the galaxy?

Thor had taken to his role as leader and guide startlingly well, but if anything went wrong, or, you know, Thor decided to return to his earlier habits of roaring and hitting things, Loki would of course be prepared to take the onerous burden of the throne hims- 

 _What?_ It was a joke!

Although, he had done pretty well in his Odin-suit days. 

Seriously, though, Loki was happier than he'd ever thought possible. Perhaps the Norns were right. Everything  _did_ happen for a reason. 

Which is why, the moment the alert kicked in over the second-rate tannoy system, something in the pit of Loki's stomach did a decidedly unpleasant somersault.  He supposed he had known this day was coming, but that didn't make it any less difficult. He was just going to have to die. Again. 

 

* * *

 

For Thor it was especially traumatic, not least because there had been so little time allowed him to grieve the death of his father. His world was shaking on its foundations, his home had been ripped away from him, his friends murdered in cold blood, and now his brother was giving him that  _aggravating_ smile that meant .... what? as the gigantic hand of the mad Titan wrapped itself around his throat. 

"No more resurrections," rasped Thanos. 

Thor was weeping silently, because his brother's smirk was the last piece of his memories, those happy memories from the times before everything went so horribly wrong. 

The Norns insisted that everything happens for a reason. Thor, King of Asgard, Odinson, just couldn't see what possible reason there could be for  _this._

Being blasted into space was almost a relief when it came. Space was cold, but it was also empty and blessedly quiet, and Thor could sleep as his body went into hibernation, hanging on to every last molecule of energy it could muster. 

 ** _THUD_**. 

Well, they were strange, these people ... creatures ...  _beings_ that hauled him in out of the nothingness. Thor wondered briefly if all that Nothing had somehow crept into his soul while he was floating in it, because he was feeling strangely hollow. He prodded the feeling, and met with, predictably, nothing. Was this how Loki had felt after falling through infinity when he let go of Gungnir? Alright, so now he had discovered that thinking about Loki made something odd happen to the Nothing. It turned ice-cold and now looked a bit like rage. 

Arguments. Why did mortals  _always_ turn everything into a petty fight? What was even worth bickering over anymore? 

He knew exactly where he needed to go - Midgard. The Man of Iron and the Captain would be able to help. Also the giant green creature who somehow turned into a mild-mannered man with spectacles when he stopped being angry. They'd called themselves Earth's mightiest heroes once upon a time - it seemed like aeons ago - and if what the Titan said was true, Earth was shortly going to need all the help it could get. 

Arguing about who was going where proved pointless. Thor had absolutely no preference as to who went with him, as long as he got to Midgard quickly enough to warn the Avengers. In the end, the small creature (squirrel? rabbit? fox? damned if he knew, or cared) and the sentient tree won the battle to accompany him. He just hoped they wouldn't talk too much. He had no feelings left to spare on small talk. 

His wish was not granted. Rocket did nothing  _but_ talk, and while Groot, who was apparently addicted to technology, didn't say much, Thor knew enough of his language to know when he was being sarcastic. It reminded him of Loki, and he realized that he was digging his nails into his palm hard enough to draw blood. This senseless end to his brother's life, when they'd both fought so hard to redeem him ... 

"If you're listening, Norns, you'd better have a damn good explanation for this," he muttered through gritted teeth. 

They didn't respond. They never did. Norns might know everything, but they were always very picky about sharing information with anyone else. 

When they finally got to New York, the sun was just starting to rise. The city looked unnaturally peaceful in the pale salmon-gold light of dawn. Thor remembered the last time he'd seen it, burning, smashed, and howling in grief, and felt the hair on the nape of his neck stand up. He did not want it to look that way again. 

They landed the small craft in a tidy little corner of a green park behind some trees. Midgard might be in danger again, but Thor knew that the last thing he needed was to be overly conspicuous. That sort of thing always caused more problems than it solved. 

"We just gonna stand here like idiots all day or are we actually gonna get outta this crockpot?" Rocket, as usual, spoke first and engaged his brain later. Thor supposed that should be considered part of his charm. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the mood to be charmed by anything right now. 

Groot mumbled something. Rocket turned sharply. "What did you say?" 

"I am  _Groot_."

 _"_ That's considered insulting on Midgard," said Thor, and opened the hatch. 

 

As he strode across the grass, he thought about what he should say to Stark. It had been some time since they'd last seen each other, and he was not sure what might have happened between then and now. It was possible, of course, that the Avengers already knew something about the latest threat. Not likely, but possible, especially with Stark's technology to give them a hand. 

It was funny how, after travelling so far to find Stark, Thor happened to land the shuttle in the exact area where Tony was taking his morning run with his girlfriend. Somewhere, one of the Norns was no doubt cackling about that one. 

Tony had just finished promising Pepper that nothing was going to get in the way of their evening date when Thor marched out from a clump of rhododenrons and said,

"Stark!" 

Tony dropped his flask of coffee. It was not a good start to his day. 

It wasn't a great start to Pepper's day, either, but Tony was Tony, and he was never just going to give up on being who he was. What he needed was her support, and that was what she was going to give him.

"So ... " said Tony, folding his arms. "You're saying that the crazy dude who sent your even crazier brother to take over New York is, what, trying for lucky Take Two? Because it didn't go so well for him last time, so I'm just wondering, did he want another ass-kicking, or ... ?"

Thor sighed. "This time is worse, Stark. He is searching for sources of great power, and he believes that one of them is on Midgard currently. And he is doing the job himself."

Tony's brows knitted together. "Pep, sweetheart, I know I said that nothing short of the end of the world would stop us from having Date Night, but ..."

Pepper kissed his forehead. "I know, it  _is_ the end of the world. How many times is that now?"

"Twelve and a half, I think," said Tony wryly. "One of these days the End will give up coming to the world 'cause it'll get bored with playing hide and seek, but for now, I'm up." 

 

 

 


End file.
